Dear Friends:

With increasing pressures threatening the West Shore’s environment and communities, FOWS is looking for volunteers to help us keep up with reporting on activities affecting our area, expand public education and outreach, and increase FOWS ability to help make a difference. On that note, we are specifically seeking volunteers to assist with social media/outreach, grant-writing, and those with experience in land use planning to help review plan and project proposals. Further, we are looking for additional Board members interested in helping guide our efforts and continue to represent your interests. Please contact Judi Tornese at jmtornese@aol.com for additional information.

As always, we will keep you updated on West Shore activities and other projects in our bi-monthly newsletters. We look forward to your continued feedback and support, and encourage you to contact us with any additional ideas or questions you may have.

Sincerely,

Homewood Mountain Resort (HMR)

TRPA has paused permitting for individual phases of the HMR project and is requiring the developers to submit a revised proposal for the Master Plan. HMR provided this update to TRPA in June.

FOWS and the Keep Homewood Public (KHP) community group are in direct communication with Discovery Land Co. (Discovery), the developer’s partner in the project. In their most recent meetings, Discovery was informed that the community supports the vision expressed in the 2011 Master Plan:

• Accessible 365-day public recreation, enjoyed equally by all local residents and visitors, and priced fairly for Tahoe;

• An environmentally friendly development that complements the natural beauty, human scale, and pre-existing architecture of the West Shore;

• Community benefits, such as affordable housing, traffic mitigations, and inclusive gathering spaces, that unite and strengthen our West Shore community of local residents, visitors, and small businesses

• Delivered by beneficial owners in good-faith collaboration with the West Shore community; and

• Robustly codified and financially backed for the benefit of future generations at Lake Tahoe.

Meeks Bay Ave. Development/Vacation Rentals

The second of the two large residential teardown/rebuilds with a vacation rental permit - of a size comparable to a boutique-style hotel - located in a quiet residential neighborhood, was ‘continued’ by the TRPA Hearings Officer (HO) on 6/8 (view meeting here). As a result of substantial community comments on the project, additional traffic and view corridor studies are required prior to the project returning for another HO hearing. The project will also need to be approved by El Dorado County once TRPA approval is obtained. The hearing has not been rescheduled at this time.

FOWS remains concerned that without changes to agency regulations and code interpretations, projects like this - where ‘mega-homes’ that act more like mini-hotels or event centers are built in quiet residential neighborhoods - will continue to be approved.

Meeks Bay Resort Restoration Project

We have not received any updates since our last newsletter. It remains anticipated that the final environmental documents will be released this summer and scheduled for TRPA public hearings this fall/winter. More information is available on the project’s website.

Tahoe City Projects

Old Tahoe City Firehouse - Moonshine Ink recently reported on the status of the potential redevelopment of the old firehouse.

Placer County Tahoe Basin Area Plan (TBAP)

Placer County’s proposed TBAP amendments would increase height, density, reduce setbacks, and result in more residential and tourist units, plus reduce public notification requirements for some projects. After a public workshop in March, reports indicate Placer and TRPA are making some limited changes, however most of the proposed amendments have not changed. FOWS is especially concerned with bringing more people to the West and North Shore without first addressing existing traffic, emergency access/evacuation, and other impacts.

The TBAP amendments will be brought back before the Placer County Planning Commission on 8/10 at the North Tahoe Event Center in Kings Beach. The meeting agenda and related materials will be posted here prior to the hearing.

Tahoe Regional Planning Agency Code Updates

Despite having no updated regional and local area analyses of existing traffic and no realistic plans for emergency evacuations and access, the TRPA continues to push forward on plan amendments that will facilitate adding even more people and traffic to already congested areas.

The proposals would support similar population-increasing amendments as the proposed Placer County TBAP amendments but on a region-wide scale (see affected locations in above image). While TRPA continues to proclaim the current Regional Plan (RP) growth caps adopted in 2012 will not be changed, the Basin has experienced significant changes since the RP’s environmental analysis was completed, including but not limited to:

• Significantly increased wildfire danger, including wildfires that spread at unprecedented rates;

• Larger-sized residential and tourist units;

• The exponential popularity of vacation rentals through VRBO and AirBnB websites; and

• Continued pressure from increased populations within the drive-up market.

FOWS supports the need to increase affordable/workforce housing, however believes that a new analysis based on current conditions is warranted before the agencies further increase the local residential and visitor populations and traffic. Further, these increases also exacerbate environmental degradation and stress on already limited local public health and safety resources. An “environmental analysis” is expected sometime this month, however it does not appear that a comprehensive analysis will be completed.